The flute is the instrument that serves as the soprano voice in most bands, orchestras, and woodwind groups. Most flutes are made of metal and consist chiefly of a tube with a mouthpiece near one end. The musician holds the flute horizontally and blows across an oval shaped hole in the mouthpiece. At the same time, the musician presses levers on the flute, called keys. The keys, when depressed and released, open and close tone holes on the flute to produce different notes. The concert flute, which is tuned in the key of C, is the most popular flute and has a three octave range. Other members of the flute family include the piccolo, the alto flute, and the bass flute.

History:

The transverse flute, the flute that is most commonly used in Western music, was known to have existed in China about 900 BCE. The flute reached Europe during the 12th century where it became most used as a military instrument in German speaking areas. This led to its formal name, the German flute. The flute then evolved into a chamber music instrument during the 16th and 17th centuries. These early flutes were often made in one piece with six fingerholes. During the 1600s, however, the flute was redesigned and was built in three sections with joints which connected them together. Gradually, more keys were added to the flute, and it began to replace the recorder in orchestral pieces. By 1800, a four-keyed flute was most common, but during that century, an eight-keyed flute was also developed. Currently, the cylindrical Bohem flute is the most commonly used with thirteen or more tone holes controlled by a system of padded keys

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

The violin, which is probably the best known orchestral instrument, is a stringed instrument that is played with a bow. The violin is the highest pitched member of the violin family, which also includes the viola, the cello, and the double bass. The violin consists of several main parts: the front, the ribs, the neck, the fingerboard, the pegbox, the scroll, the bridge, the tailpiece, and the f-holes. The front, also known as the top, belly, or soundboard is usually made of well-seasoned spruce, while the back is made of well-seasoned maple.

When a violin is made, the front, back, and ribs are joined together to create a hollow sound box. The four strings of the violin are fastened to the tailpiece, rest on the bridge of the violin, are suspended over the fingerboard, and run to the pegbox. At the pegbox, they are attached to tuning pegs which can be turned to alter the pitch of the string. By changing the position of his or her fingers on the fingerboard, different pitches are made. Then the player draws a bow across the strings at a right angle to produce a tone. The bow that is used is a narrow, slightly curved stick that is made of Pernambuco. It is about 75 cm. long and has a band of horse hair strung from one end to the other.

Among the most useful characterstics of the violin is its musical tone and its ability to play very rapid, brilliant figurations as well as lyrical melodies. Violinists also create special sounds by using the following techniques: pizzicato, (plucking the strings rather than playing with a bow), tremelo, (moving the bow rapidly back and forth on a string), sul ponticello, (playing with the bow extremely close to the bridge to produce a thin, glassy sound), col legno, (playing with the wooden part of the bow as opposed to the hair), and glissando, (steadily gliding the left fingers up and down the strings to produce a sliding pitch).

History:

The beginnings of the violin can be traced to Italy in the early 1500s. It seems to have evolved from two other stringed instruments, the fiddle and the lira da braccio (a Renassaince instrument). The craft of violin making began during the 17th and 18th centuries in the workshops of such artists as Antonio Stradivari, Guiseppe Guarneri, and Jacob Stainer. The violins that were made at this time had a shorter neck, a shorter fingerboard, and a flatter bridge than the violins of today.

When the violin was first used in classical pieces, it was considered to be an instrument of low social status. However, through pieces such as Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, and through groups such as the 24 violons du roi (King Louis XIII's band of musicians), the violin began to gain greater stature in the world of music. This climb continued into the Baroque period when many notable composers, including Antionio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Georg Philipp Telemann, featured the violin in their works. The violin became the driving force in new instrumental genres which included the solo concerto, sonata, and suite. During this period violins, emerged as the leading section in an orchestra. However, it wasn't until the 19th century that violin virtuosos emerged. People such as Giovanni Viotti, Isaac Stern, Mischa Elman, and Nathan Milstein became world famous for their skill.